


Picking Up the Pieces

by Thursdays_Angel



Series: Picking Up the Pieces [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 20:11:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18724126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursdays_Angel/pseuds/Thursdays_Angel
Summary: During the slow ride back to Earth Tony and Nebula come across the remains of the Statesman. Tony searches the faces for his friend and finds his brother instead. Thor loves his kid brother, the least Tony can do is bring him back for a proper burial.





	Picking Up the Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into the Marvel fandom in terms of fanfiction. I have other ideas but this is the first I've completed. I'd originally started to write this prior to any Endgame trailers coming out. I finally saw the movie on Friday and was like, I can work with that so I went back and re-wrote it to make it work for what's happened in canon. Though, how much of canon is actually canon. Did anyone else notice the glaring plot holes in the Russo brothers own time travel logic? I mean, one of those plot holes I'll take and run away with it.

**_ Picking up the Pieces _ **

            They’d lost; wholly, unequivocally. All around him were signs of their failure. Tony stared at his ash covered hands, waiting for himself to turn to dust as well but knowing that he was one of the ones “spared.” The knowledge sat like lead in his stomach. How had it come to this? He’d known for _six years_ that something was coming and for all that he had done to prepare they’d still lost. There weren’t even bodies and Peter… The boy who _never_ listened and who had only wanted to help... The boy Tony had not even consciously realized he’d begun to think of as _his_ was gone. Dear God, what was he going to tell his aunt? Had May even survived? Pepper, Rhodey, Happy…? Tony leaned over and spilled what little contents his stomach held.

            “Are you done?”

            Tony looked up at the blue skinned, whatever the woman was. There was no emotion within her black eyes and it took Tony a moment to process her words. “What?”

            “Are you done? Your emotions are meaningless and will not be of any aid to you.”

            She turned and started away. Tony scrambled up after her; the sharp pain in his side the only protest to his movement. He ignored it. “Where are you going?”

            She turned her head slightly, “to kill Thanos.”

            That stopped Tony short. They’d _lost_. Thanos had just murdered half the universe and this chick wanted to go kill him? Granted Tony wanted to end the overgrown grape’s life as slowly and painfully as possible too but even he knew the effort would be futile.

            “What good will that do?” he asked.

            “I have no other mission. Killing Thanos is the only goal.”

            Tony had no intention of being left behind on this rock and he also had no plans of going after Thanos. At least, not yet.

            “Wait,” he caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She spun around and he held up his hands in a nonthreatening manor. “I need to get back to Earth. Can you at least help me do that?”

            “Terra?”

            “Yeah, sure. I need to get back there.”

            Tony had no way to read her expression as she stared at him silently for a minute. “Fine. I shall prepare the _Milano_ to send you back. You will make the trip on your own.”

            The _Milano_ , so that was the name of the so called Guardian’s ship. Tony could work with that. Besides how hard could piloting it be? He’d managed to get Squidwards ship this far.

            They walked in silence as they headed for the ship. Tony felt bile rise again when he realized that he would be returning to Earth in what was essentially a dead man’s home. He forced himself to swallow down the urge to vomit.

            He watched and listened as the woman prepared the ship and gave him basic instructions on piloting it. Tony was surprised to find that he could actually read the language on the consoles and displays. _Thank you Thor,_ he thought.

            Thoughts of the thunder god made Tony’s throat tighten again. He had no idea if the man was alive or not. According to Bruce the last time he’d seen him Thor was alive but his chances of survival was next to nil. _Please be alive,_ he prayed, _please._

            “Are you sure you want to go after Thanos now? Do you even stand a chance alone?”

            She turned and eyed him. The silence persisted for a long time. Finally she asked, “What would you propose?”

            “Come back with me. I mean… Look,” he leaned heavily against one of the chairs. “You can explain how to pilot this thing all day long and yeah, I’ll be able to fly it. However, what if something goes wrong? I don’t know enough about these systems to fix it by myself. We can go back to Earth, regroup and… and go from there.”

            Tony held his breath while she pondered his words. Her black gaze remained hard to read. “I am Nebula.”

            “I’m Tony,” he blurted in surprise to her words. “Does this mean you’ll come back with me?”

            “I will. You made my father bleed. Perhaps there is more to you Terrans than I knew.”

            Tony let out a sigh of relief. Once the _Milano_ was ready they lifted off from Titan to head back home. Tony was terrified of what he would find when he returned to Earth. He wondered, briefly, if things would have turned out differently if the Avengers hadn’t fallen apart.

            Sitting back in the copilots chair Tony watched the sky darken and give way to a vast expanse of stars. He barely felt the engines power increase and let his mind begin to wander. Under normal circumstances Tony would be all over the tech to figure out how it worked and what he could do to improve upon it. Now though, he wondered how they would ever be able to pick up the pieces. Problem was, he had no idea where to even begin.

* * *

            Tony didn’t know exactly when he’d fallen asleep but the adrenaline drop had put him into a, thankfully, dreamless sleep. It had been this way for a number of days as they slowly made their way back to Earth. He awoke to the sound of static and something banging against the outer hull. _What the hell,_ he thought.

            Looking out the viewport Tony felt his blood turn to ice. Outside were bodies, dozens and dozens of bodies. _Oh god…_ He felt bile rise but with pretty much nothing in his stomach all he could do was gag. Bruce had told him a little of what he’d remembered of Thanos’ attack on the Asgardian refugees. Briefly he thought about trying to recover the bodies, they deserved a proper burial, but realized there was no way he could get them all.

            He glanced to the pilot’s chair and saw Nebula staring out at the grizzly scene. “I think… I think these are Thor’s people,” he said.

            “I do not know who that is. I am showing no life signs.” There was a minute shake of her head. “This is my father’s work.”

            “Can we see if my friend is out there? I have to know.”

            “I have scanned the area.” The viewscreen lit up with dozens of faces. “These are all that are out there.”

            He scanned the faces, saying a silent prayer for them and also trying to find his friend. Bruce hadn’t known if Thor had survived or not and while Tony wanted to see Thor he didn’t want to find him floating among the wreckage.

            Carefully he looked at each face one by one. He activated the HUD from the suit to record each one. It was painstaking and he wasn’t sure he could take any more heartache. Then he spotted a face he recognized. He pointed to the picture, “Him, where is he?”

            Nebula slowly piloted the ship to the location of the one Tony asked about. Tony saw the man, floating alone with a look of pure terror frozen upon his face: Loki. Tony took a shaky breath and made a quick decision. He may not be able to collect everyone but he could at the very least collect his friend’s baby brother. To Tony’s relief, Thor did not appear to be among the dead.

            “We have to bring him in.”

            Nebula turned to him. “Why? He is already dead. There is nothing we can do for him.”

            “We have to. Look he’s… He’s my friend’s kid brother. Thor’s not out there, thank God. If he’s alive and I can do nothing else, I can at least bring him back his brother for a proper burial.”

            Nebula stared at him for a long moment and seemed to realize arguing would be pointless. “Very well. How do you plan to retrieve him?”

            “Already taken care of.” He left the cockpit and gathering what nanites weren’t holding his wound together sent them out after Loki. The process was slow going. Much slower than Tony would have liked. Truth be told, Tony wished there were enough nanites for a full suit so he could gather everyone himself.

            Once the nanites returned and the airlock pressurized Tony opened the inner door to kneel down beside Loki’s body. It took a bit of doing and some extra help from the nanites, since Nebula hadn’t left the cockpit, but Tony was able to move Loki to lie out on the table.

            Tony’s side burned from the effort and he pressed a hand against the wound as he took in the fallen prince.

            Loki’s eyes were open, the green of his iris overshadowed by the red of broken blood vessels. There was bruising around his neck in the shape of a giant hand. Tony had a pretty good idea of just whose hand it had been.

            “Life sucks for everyone, huh?”

            Tony wasn’t expecting an answer and he didn’t receive one. With a sigh he carefully closed the God of Mischief’s eyes. “Wherever you are, I hope it’s better than here.”

            Tony located a blanket and used it to cover Loki. Before covering his head, Tony realized that Loki’s neck was bent at an odd angle. It was something he should have noticed earlier. Maybe he had and just hadn’t registered it.

            Taking a breath to steady himself, Tony carefully adjusted Loki’s head to a more natural position. He prodded against the back of Loki’s neck and felt the vertebra protruding where they definitely should not be.

            “Oh, I’m going to be sick,” Tony muttered as he worked. Beneath his fingertips, the vertebra shifted and he heard a crunch as they seemingly slid back into place.

            Tony twisted to the side and retched. With nothing left in his stomach he was left with only bile. “Well that was disgusting,” he said referring to both his pathetic excuse for vomiting and the bones shifting in Loki’s neck.

            When he had his stomach under control he turned back to the fallen prince. Tony rubbed his eyes. “Great,” he muttered to himself, “now I’m starting to hallucinate.” When he’d turned back he could have sworn there was color returning to Loki’s cheeks and a slight beat in his neck from a pulse.

            Tony nodded to himself. “I’m hallucinating.” He grabbed the blanket to finish covering Loki. “It’s finally happened Tony. You have officially gone off the deep end.”

            As he lifted the blanket Loki’s eyes suddenly flew open, then the dead man drew in a breath and promptly began coughing.

            “Holy shit!” Tony yelled (yelled, not screamed, Tony Stark does not scream… okay maybe a little) jumping back.

            Loki’s eyes darted around while he continued to take in big gulps of air. His arms flailed as he tried to remove the blanket Tony had put over him.

            “Not hallucinating. Oh shit! Nebula he’s alive!” Tony reached out and grabbed Loki’s hand. “Hey, hey, hey.” He carefully bent until he was within the others line of site. Loki’s breaths were coming too fast and his panic wasn’t going to help him breathe any better. “Look, I know it’s hard but you have to calm down.”

            Loki’s mouth moved but no sound came out. Tony suspected his larynx had been damaged as well. The guy was going to pass out if he didn’t calm his breathing. Tony frantically looked around, wishing he had an oxygen mask. He turned back to the gasping prince. “Come on, deep breaths.” Tony took a deep breath himself, partly to help Loki and partly to help himself. It took a few shuttering tries but eventually Loki’s breathing began to even out.

            “Great,” Tony smiled when it didn’t look like Loki was going to continue to panic. “So… this is awkward. Whoa,” he exclaimed when Loki tried to sit up. He gently pushed down on Loki’s shoulder. “I just popped the bones in your neck back into place. You really shouldn’t move. I mean, maybe if I had a neck brace to give you.” That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Maybe the nanites would work but he couldn’t imagine Loki would be too excited to have anything around his neck. To prove his point, Loki had begun to tug at his collar with his free hand.

            “Loki,” the use of his name seemed to startle the man. Tony gently grabbed Loki’s other hand and laid them down by his stomach. “First, I’m not going to hurt you, I swear. Besides, your brother would kick my ass if I did. I’m going to help you as best as I can. I may even have a way to help support your neck but you have to be calm. I know that’s going to be hard considering everything. I’m going to put my fingertips against your neck.” Panic flared in Loki’s eyes again. “It’ll just be the tips… There’s a joke in there somewhere. Anyway, my suit is made up of nanites. Well, what’s left of it is, but I can transfer some of them to help support your neck. Will you let me do that?”

            Loki stared at him for a few moments before, very carefully, nodding.

            Tony gave Loki a weak smile and carefully took back one hand. He didn’t want to startle Loki any more than the man already was. He focused the nanites to create support for Loki’s neck and watched as they traveled down his hand to form the brace.

            Once completed Loki tried to sit up again. “Here,” Tony helped pull him into a sitting position. He felt the action tug on his wound. “Ow,” he gripped his side and when he pulled his hand away he saw blood. “Great,” he looked back up at Loki and saw confusion on the other man’s face. Flippantly he said, “this is what I get for trying to stab the overgrown grape.”

            Loki swung his legs over the side of the table Tony had laid him on. He watched as Loki inspected his wound. Green danced around Loki’s fingers and Tony was surprised as the pain disappeared. When Loki pulled his hand back Tony lifted up his shirt. The wound wasn’t completely healed but the bleeding had stopped. He looked at Loki in surprise. “Thanks,” he said.

            Loki gave him a weak smile. His gaze drifted behind Tony and his eyes went wide with panic again. He tried to stand and his legs buckled as soon as he put weight on them. Tony caught the man before he could hit the ground. “Ho, whoa! What?” Tony looked in the direction of Loki’s gaze and saw Nebula standing not too far away. “Easy, she isn’t going to hurt you– wait where’d you get the knife?” He managed to get Loki back on the table. “You know,” Tony said once Loki had steadied, “for all intents and purposes, you were dead, like, ten minutes ago. Maybe you should try taking it just a _little_ slower.” Tony received a raised eyebrow and intense glare in response.

            Rolling his own eyes he looked back and forth between the two others. Nebula expression looked blank while Loki’s looked murderous. “I take it you two have history.”

            “He was found half dead by my father’s scouts. He was kept aboard _Sanctuary_ for over a year. My father had my sister and I, along with Ebony Maw and Proxima Midnight condition him to become one of my father’s children. Once broken and rebuilt, my father sent him to your world to conquer and obtain the Tesseract.”

            Tony shifted to place himself between her and Loki. “You tortured him.” Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. He did not need this shit. “Can we at least refrain from killing each other until we get back to Earth? And no torturing,” he pointed a finger at Nebula, “you so much as look at him wrong and I’ll end you.”

            He helped Loki to the cockpit and into one of the seats towards the front. The look of shock he’d received from the trickster would have been amusing under different circumstances. Which, yeah, his words had surprised him too but he’d been there, done that and gotten the damn T-shirt. Luckily Nebula didn’t follow them. Tony took the opposite seat. “I’m going to take a guess and say that you’re not going to be able to speak for a while huh?” Loki just stared at him. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He sighed. “Too bad you don’t know sign language.”

            Loki gestured and it took a moment for Tony to understand.

            _You mean this?_

            Tony sat up straighter. “Wait, you know ASL?”

            _If you mean can I communicate using my hands, then yes._

“Well that makes things a little easier I guess.”                                     

            _What about Thor? Is he…_

            “I don’t know,” Tony said. “Earth was attacked shortly after Bruce arrived. They called themselves the ‘Children of Thanos’ which I’m guessing you already know and I ended up off world. I don’t know if Thor made it or not. I didn’t see him out there,” he gestured out the viewscreen, “so… fingers crossed.”

            Tony set the ship to continue its voyage to Earth. From what he was able to gather from the readings they were still a long ways off. They were silent for a while before Tony finally voiced the same questions he’s had since Bruce had returned. “What happened to you guys?”

            Slowly, Loki began to sign. He told Tony everything, from his pretending to be Odin to the events of Sakaar and Hela’s destruction of Asgard. He explained how Thor had planned on bringing the remaining Asgardians to Earth for refuge. Loki also told of how Thanos had attacked them, reducing the miniscule number of surviving Asgardians even more.

            “I’m sorry,” Tony said once Loki had finished. “Damn,” he rubbed his face with his hands. “You know, once we get back I’m going to get you that drink. More than one probably. Hell, we’ll drink a whole liquor store.”

            _How did you end up out here?_

            Tony told his side of the story. He had to stop several times to bring his emotions back under control. Loki listened, his own sadness reflecting in his eyes. He wiped at his eyes, “Everyone just… turned to dust.” With one hand he gripped the fabric of his shirt. “Hell I’m… I’m _wearing_ my kid. He just turned to dust and there… There wasn’t anything I could do. I’ve known since Thanos sent you after the Tesseract that something bigger was coming. I tried so _hard_ to prevent this.”

            _Thanos would have gone after the stones no matter what you did to prepare. He is ruthless, caring for nothing except his insane mission. He has been plotting for centuries to wipe out half of all life in his deluded idea of balance._

            “We were damned no matter what we did. There’s a happy thought.” Exhaustion settled deep into his bones. “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but, how are you even alive?”

            Loki frowned slightly. _I honestly don’t know. I thought if Thanos killed me then Thor might have a chance. He would have killed me anyway, for my failure to obtain the cube._

            “You mean the Tesseract?”

            _Well, there isn’t exactly a sign for that word and I didn’t feel like spelling it out._

            Tony’s lips twitched into a slight smile. “No, I suppose there isn’t. Still doesn’t explain how you’re alive, or at the very least not paralyzed.”

            _This isn’t the first time I have survived something that should have killed me. I believe my…_ here he paused, making a random gesture of thought, _magic, for lack of a better word, has kept me alive and is currently healing my injuries._

            “Magic,” Tony said with a sigh, “right. I don’t suppose there are arrogance classes you magic people take?”

            Loki’s brow furrowed in confusion. _What do you mean?_

            Tony waved a hand, “Ah, there was this guy back on Earth…”

            Loki suddenly gestured, his eyebrow raising, _a man named Strange?_

            “Yeah, you know him?”

            _Unfortunately, we had the misfortune of making acquaintances when we went searching for Odin. He is second-rate and does not deserve to be called a sorcerer. I plan on making that point the next we meet._

            “Sorry but you’re too late. Thanos dusted him.”

            Loki blinked at him. His signing became sharp as anger visibly rose in him. _Of course I should have realized Thanos has the Time Stone. Strange was supposed to_ protect _the stone._

“Yeah well,” Tony sagged back in his seat. “That asshole just handed it over. Said it was ‘the only way.’ Whatever that means.”

            _‘The only way’ to what?_

            “Win, I suppose. I couldn’t tell you how we’re supposed to do that. Strange said he saw like, fourteen billion different futures and we win in only one of them.”

            _How is giving Thanos the Infinity Stones the way to ‘win’?_

“I don’t know. If I did, do you really think I’d have gone road tripping through space?”

            _I suppose not. Though I am grateful that you were out here._

            “Weirdly enough, so am I. Let’s just hope Thor made it to Earth.” _And that everyone we care about is still alive._ Tony left that last thought to himself.

* * *

            The days bled into one another. Tony stretched, his back popping and his wound pulling uncomfortably. He gave a little grunt. _Probably shouldn’t have done that_ , he thought. He’d developed an infection a few days after they’d found Loki. Luckily there was a medical bay to help. Neither Loki nor Nebula had tried to kill him or each other yet so that was an added bonus. Though by the looks of Loki, he wouldn’t be hurting, let alone killing, anything for a while. Speaking of the trickster…

            He looked over towards the other seats and saw they were empty. “Loki? Nebula?” he called.

            He left the cockpit and found the trickster rummaging through some cabinets. Nebula was nowhere to be seen. Loki had removed the top part of his armor within hours of returning from the dead, only clad in a dark blue tunic. The red of the brace on his neck contrasted greatly with the paleness of his skin. He turned at Tony’s approach, waving bottles of some kind.

            “What’cha got there?”

            Loki held out one of the bottles which Tony took. Looking up he saw Loki drink from his own bottle.

            “You sure that’s safe?”

            Loki put his bottle aside and signed, _you can survive longer without food than water._

            “I meant for human consumption.”

            Loki rolled his eyes, _yes._

            Granted Tony had been making use of what little provisions were on board. He’d taken to lightly teasing the trickster. So far, he hadn’t been stabbed. Loki never had explained where he’d pulled his dagger from, or where he’d put it. As far as Tony could see, Loki had no weapons on him.

            “Alright,” Tony held up his bottle in a mock toast, “bottoms up.”

            It wasn’t the best tasting water he’d ever had but it was better than nothing. He hadn’t realized just how dehydrated he was until he took his first sip. He swished the water around in his mouth for a moment. He’d kill for a toothbrush.

            He swallowed down his drink. “How long was I out?”

            Loki shrugged. _I awoke only a short time ago_.

            “Great, well I always did hate long car rides.” He looked around again. “Where’s Nebula?”

            Loki gestured behind him. _Checking the engines to see if there is any way to increase their speed without further damaging them._

            Tony made a noncommittal noise and together they made their way back to the cockpit. Tony watched the stars continue to go by as they sat in silence. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Loki running his fingers along the edges of the brace. “Is it too tight?”

            Loki shifted so he could better sign. _No, but I do not particularly like having anything this close to my neck._

            “I wouldn’t either.” Tony thought for a moment. “Look, I’m not a doctor and you’ve had that on for a while but I don’t know if you should go without it until a doctor can look at your neck. I mean, I popped a _God damn_ bone back into place. I really don’t want to get back, find that Thor is there and have to tell him that you were an idiot and broke your neck again.”

            _You’re right, he would be very displeased._

“Exactly, and I don’t want to have a pissed off thunder god gunning for me.”

            Loki huffed something that Tony thought was laughter. His lips had turned up in a smile. “Speaking from experience,” Loki rasped, “it’s not fun.”

            “Ah!” Tony cringed nearly covering his ears. “Sign language, stick with the sign language. You sound like you’ve been gargling glass. God, now _my_ throat hurts in sympathy.”

            _It feels like it too._

            “You know,” Tony chuckled, lowering his hands,” if we’d met under different circumstances, I think you and I could have been friends. You’re really not half bad, you know, when you’re not brainwashed into being a crazy world conquering super villain.”

            Loki suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights. _What do you mean by brainwashed?_

            “I put two and two together after Bruce told us that Thanos had sent you. That and, you know, what Nebula said earlier. Thinking back on it, I should have noticed you didn’t look healthy. Thor even mentioned how much your personality had changed. None of the rest of us knew you, so we didn’t have any way of knowing just how much of a difference there was. Having been there myself, I should have at least seen the signs.”

            Loki looked away and Tony knew he’d hit a nerve. Loki took a breath, “It wasn’t until long after I,” another breath, “returned to Asgard that,” here he winced and rubbed at his throat, “I’d realized the desires I’d had on Midgard were not my own.”

            “Like I said, brainwashed. I’ve gone over the footage so many times I can play it in my head. My other confirmation was your eyes.”

            _My eyes?_

            “Here they’re green. Back then, they were blue.”

            Loki looked back at him, his eyes wide. _None of that changes what I did. Why do you not still hate me for it?_

            “No, it doesn’t change that. I also don’t think I’ve ever actually hated you. Hated what you did, sure, but,” he shrugged, “we don’t really tend to blame someone for a crime committed under duress.”

            Loki looked like he didn't know what to do with that information. The other man remained silent so Tony turned his attention back out the viewport. It really was amazing, being out in space. With all of the things he had done and built over his lifetime being out among the stars hadn’t really been something that had ever crossed his mind. Actually being out here now though, Tony wished he could appreciate it more.

* * *

            Loki wandered aimlessly around the ship. He no longer had any pain in his neck from the break and the worst of the damage had been healed. His seiðr was still weak and had been that way ever since he’d originally woken on board the _Milano_ three weeks ago. Due to that it still hurt to speak. His voice would be the last thing healed. At least, it would be if they were not going to die soon.

            The air in the ship was thin and getting thinner with each passing minute. They would all suffocate within the next day or so. Though the question was which would kill them first, lack of oxygen or carbon monoxide buildup? Neither option was appealing.

            Loki’s stomach rumbled and his throat ached from how dry it was. He tried to work some saliva into his mouth but it was a futile effort. His wanderings brought him to the front of the ship. Stark and Nebula were playing another game of paper football. Stark had lost a lot of weight and muscle mass in the past few weeks. Loki could see his own bones becoming more visible beneath his skin.

            He watched the two play their game for a few minutes in silence. The Man of Iron’s kindness continued to surprise Loki while Nebula, well, Loki still tried to avoid her as much as he could. Seeing her again had brought back memories he wanted nothing more than to forget. Putting a knife between her eyes would go a long way to help with his nightmares but then he remembered her own screams. She was a victim of Thanos too. That knowledge did nothing to change his feelings towards the woman.

            Loki wrapped his blanket tighter around his shoulders. Stark had removed the nanites bracing his neck about ten days prior. There was nothing the others could do to help with his injury and he decided that keeping the brace on for so long was going to end up doing more harm than good.

            Finding a place on the floor Loki curled up and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

            Tony sat down before his battered helmet. He recorded a message to Pepper every “night” before going to sleep. They rationed what little food and water they had to try and make it last as long as they could. Unfortunately both had run out about four days ago. They’d been forced to do emergency repairs to the engines and those had finally died two days before. Oxygen would only last for about another two days.

            In the interim Tony had taught Nebula how to play paper football. Loki had watched as he and Nebula played for a while before taking Nebula’s place and royally kicking Tony’s ass. The trickster had refrained from speaking aloud unless it was absolutely necessary. From what he’d explained to Tony, Loki’s magic was focusing it’s healing on his neck and apparently broken spinal cord because hey, why not.

            Nebula was in the back doing God only knew what and Loki… Tony looked to where Loki was laying on the floor wrapped in a thin blanket. It was weird watching the guy sleep. He looked so young and small. Tony had a hard time seeing the crazy supervillain from six years prior.

            With a sigh, he activated his damaged helmet to record his last message to Pepper.

* * *

            A blinding light flitted across Loki’s eyelids rousing him from his sleep. Blinking his eyes open, Loki saw a large ball of light approaching the viewport. Stark was sitting in the cockpit and had a hand up to help shield his eyes. Loki stood and slowly made his way closer as the light resolved into a young woman. The communication speakers crackled and a voice came through, “Tony Stark?”

            Loki leaned against Starks chair as the other man nodded to the figure outside.

            “I’m Carol Danvers. I’m here to take you home.”

            He and Stark shared a look as the woman disappeared from view. He gripped the chair when the ship gave a sudden lurch and began moving.

            The sound of footsteps approaching alerted them to Nebula’s presence, “What’s happening?”

            “We got a lift,” Stark said in a stunned voice.

            “What?”

            Stark explained what had just happened to Nebula. Loki could have signed but the woman would not have been able to understand the gestures. There was one gesture he’d given to her earlier that she _had_ understood. That was about the extent of the communication between the two.

            The stars sped past them faster and faster until they entered the Milky Way galaxy. They passed by planets and an asteroid field much faster than the ship was ever designed to go. Midgard quickly entered their sights and Loki felt his stomach clench. What if Thor wasn’t alive? What if he _was_? How angry would Thor be with him? He’d had no intention of deceiving his brother. Truly, Loki had not expected to survive his encounter with Thanos.

            “Hey, Merlin,” Stark reached up and patted his arm. Loki turned his attention to the emaciated man, “I’m sure Thor made it. Point Break won’t go down so easily.”

            _I sure hope you’re right._

            They approached the night side of Midgard making for their landing point. He spotted a small group of people standing near where the woman was putting the ship down. Nebula helped Stark from his seat and the three of them headed for the ramp. Loki faltered at the top of the ramp while Stark and Nebula continued on. He could hear the joy in Stark’s friend’s voice at seeing him alive. Loki hadn’t spotted Thor but he also hadn’t really been looking.

            Loki’s focus was brought back to the present at the mention of his brother’s name. “Is Thor here?” Stark asked loud enough for Loki to hear. “Did he make it?”

            Thor voice reached his ears, “I am here Stark.”

            Loki’s hand shot up to cover his mouth as he choked on a sob. Thor was alive, he had made it and he was here. Loki’s vision blurred with tears.

            “Thank God,” Stark replied. Then, “Wow, Point Break that haircut. You seriously need to get your money back.”

            A laugh broke Loki’s sob. Thor’s forced haircut on Sakaar had been terrible. He wiped at his eyes and proceeded down the ramp. At least, he would have if his legs would move. Loki found himself frozen. His heart was in his throat and his stomach was somewhere around his ankles. He needed to _move_. He needed to go down and see Thor. Have proof with his own eyes that his brother was alive. He needed—

            “Are you coming down or what?” Stark’s voice called up to him. “I can’t exactly come up there and drag you down.” Stark’s voice faded a bit as he seemed to turn back to the people he was talking to. “So everyone, Nebula. Nebula, everyone. She’s a friend and we actually picked up a hitch hiker on our way home. Which don’t freak out, the guy’s been through hell and still can’t really talk right now.”

            “Stark,” there was a waver to Thor’s voice and finally Loki’s legs unfroze. “What are you saying?”

            Loki’s first steps were shaky as he made his way down the ramp. His eyes met Thor’s before he reached the bottom. Under different circumstances Loki would have laughed at the look of shock on his brother’s face. As it was, his own vision began to blur again and he felt tears run down his face.

            Thor’s lips moved, mouthing Loki’s name. “Loki… Loki…? _Loki!_ ” Thor broke into a run as Loki stumbled forward.

            They crashed into one another. Loki’s sobs becoming harsher and louder. “Thor,” he rasped, his voice still harsh from damage and disuse. “I’m sorry. Thor, I’m sorry.”

            “Loki,” Thor rocked them back and forth. Loki felt his brother’s tears dampen his tunic. “Loki. You’re alive. You’re alive. Loki you’re alive.”

            Thor pulled back, cradling Loki’s face in his hands. “How,” Thor swallowed hard, “I saw Th— I saw him break your neck. I saw you die.”

            “I don’t know. I thought if I’d let him kill me you would have a chance to survive.” He rubbed at his throat. It felt like someone was taking knives to it. At Thor’s questioning look he weakly said, “hurts.”

            “We ran out of food and water four days ago,” Stark said, reminding them that they had an audience.

            “We should get you checked out then,” said a dark skinned man Loki did not recognize. He looked at the other faces gathered at the ship. Some he knew, like the Captain of America and Widow.

            They headed inside, Thor had put an arm around Loki’s shoulders and held him close. Loki was thankful for the extra support. No one had said anything about his display of weakness to which he was grateful.

            Stark’s voice rang out once more, breaking the melancholy of the moment. “I want a cheeseburger.”

* * *

            After being examined in the medical bay and given a couple bags of saline to rehydrate him followed by a lite meal he’d been given a clean bill of health by Dr. Banner, at least in regards to his neck and spinal injury. He was still dehydrated and malnourished but those would remedy with time. There was also the stipulation that he not speak too much so that his throat could heal properly. Loki could already feel his seiðr getting stronger and working to repair the remaining damage.

            He and Thor had each been given quarters but small spaces and the idea of being away from one another for too long only made their fear spike. Both were afraid that the other would disappear. Loki shifted on the couch in the common area and felt Thor’s arms tighten around him. His head was tucked under his older brother’s chin.

            The last few hours had been emotionally exhausting. The full measure of the damage done by Thanos was still being tallied. Thor had better explained Asgard’s destruction and the circumstances surrounding it. Nebula had described, in excruciating detail, the extent of Loki’s willingness to work for Thanos (meaning the lack thereof) and what had been done to obtain it. The looks of horror he’d received from those around him had made Loki wish his seiðr was strong enough to allow him to disappear.

            Afterwards when they were alone again Thor had apologized profusely for not seeing his brother’s pain all those years ago.

            Loki pulled the blanket covering them up a little further. The couch wasn’t exactly designed for two grown men lying down on it but it was surprisingly comfortable and he did not feel like he was about to fall off. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. His dreams were filled with sunshine and lightning. For the first time in a long time he felt safe.

* * *

            Tony wheeled his chair out to the common area. The others were milling about the compound. Some had retired for the night. Tony was already thinking of designs for a motor to put on the chair. Would the wheels stand up to speeds in excess of eighty?

            He saw Rhodey looking at the couch. He wheeled himself over, “What’cha looking at?” he asked softly. Something about the night asked for hushed voices.

            Rhodey gestured to the couch and Tony shifted his gaze there where he saw Thor and Loki curled up fast asleep.

            “They’ve been like that for hours. I’ve been tempted to wake them up so they can sleep in a real bed but…” he trailed off with a shrug.

            “Nah,” Tony felt a small smile play across his lips, “let them sleep. And take a picture. That’s perfect blackmail material.”

            Rhodey chuckled softly.

            Tony sighed. Half the universe had been wiped out. He’d lost his boy on Titan. Thanos was in the wind. They’d lost everything and there didn’t seem to be any way to gain a victory out of such an utter defeat. He looked back to the two sleeping gods. There was one sliver of silver in the lining. He’d been able to bring his friend back his kid brother. It may not have been much but it was a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed. This is intended to be a one-shot but I can see ways to expand upon it. Who knows, maybe there will be more in the future.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Just Breathe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19178692) by [niamhcullen3108](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamhcullen3108/pseuds/niamhcullen3108)




End file.
